Dispensing container



INVENTOR HARR'Y A. TOMARIN H. A. TOMARIN DISPENSING CONTAINER Filed April 1. 1947 Nov. 4, 1952 Patented Nov. 4, 1952 DISPENSING CONTAINER Harry A. Tomarin, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor of fifty per cent to J. Warren Kinney, Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio Application April 1, 1947, Serial No. 738,528

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to containers, and more particularly to a one-piece so-called dispensing container.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive one-piece container having formed integrally therewith an inclined dispensing panel which spans the adjacent portions of the top and front panels of the container, and wherein the sides of said dispensing panel terminate in a pair of outwardly projecting abutment members which effectively preclude blocking, choking or clogging of perforations provided in discharge panel incident to use of the container.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container having the hereinabove described characteristics and which lends itself to mass production, automatic filling techniques.

A further object of the invention is to provide a blank from which a dispensing container having the hereinabove described characteristics may be quickly set-up.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and as disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank comprising a detail of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the upper portion of a dispensing carton fabricated from the blank of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the container of Fig. 2 in an inverted, ready-to-fill position.

With reference to Fig. 1, it will be noted that a sheet of material, such as, by way of example, cardboard or the like, is cut and scored to provide, in a side-by-side relationship, a side panel l0, front panel 12, side panel 14, rear panel l6 and a side closure flap [8.

The overall length, or height of the container, is defined by the distance between upper edge 20 and lower score or fold line 22.

A bottom 24 is hingedly secured to the lower edgeof side panel 14, whereas bottom closure flaps 28 are hingedly secured to the bottom edges of front and rear panels 12 and IS. A second bottom closure flap 30 may be hingedly secured from the lower edge of side panel 10, however, it should be observed that, if desired, bottom panels 24 and .30 may be interchanged.

A dispensing panel 32, top panel 34 and a top closure flap 36, all having an overall width approximating the width of front panel 12 are provided in an end-to-end relationship extending upwardly from score or fold line 38 which defines the upper edge of said front panel. Score or fold lines 40 and 42 define the length dimension of top 34.

It will be observed that the overall height of front panel [2 is of a dimension less than the overall height of rear panel [6; likewise, the length of top panel 34 is of a dimension less than the width of side panels Ill and I4. The slant height dimension of dispensing panel 32 is equal to the square root of the sum of the squares of the dimension by which front panel 12 is shorter than rear panel [6 and the dimension by which top panel 34 is shorter than the width of either of side panels [0 and I4.

A triangular shaped wing or abutment member 44 is provided adjacent the side edges of dispensing panel 32, the longer leg 46 of said triangular Wings being common with the side edges of said panel. Leg 48 of said wings extends from the upper end or corner of front panel l2 to the apex, denoted by the numeral 50, of wings 44. This apex is located in upper edge 20 of the side panels. The other leg 52 interconnects apex 50 with the forward end or corner of top panel 34. Legs 46 and 48 of the triangular shaped wings 44 are defined by score or fold lines whereas leg 52 comprises a severed edge. It will be observed that each of side panels [0 and I4 include a triangularly shaped wing formed integrally therewith.

A pair of side and top closure flaps 54 and 56 are provided as illustrated, each of said flaps being defined by edges 58, 66 and 62, and leg 52.

A container may be assembled from the blank disclosed in Fig. 1 by folding side walls It! and I4 relative to front wall [2 incident to which folding operation dispensing panel 32 will be snapped or shifted inwardly to the inclined position illustrated in Fig. 2 incident to which operation wings 44 will be moved from the plane of side panels 10 and i4 outwardly and thence in overlapping parallelism with the respective side panels Ill and M for defining the upstanding abutments disclosed in Figs. 2 and 3.

It will be noted that leg 52 of wings 44 will be disposed in parallel abutting adjacency with the upper forward edge of the side panels. Top panel 34 may then be folded downwardly into a plane at substantial right angles relative to and across the top of said side and rear panels being secured in place by closure tabs 36, 54 and 56, thereby providing the structure as disclosed in Fig. 2.

As will be evident from Figs. 1 and 2, the area of top panel 34, while less than the area of bottom panel 24 is nevertheless quite substantial, wherefore, bottom filling of the container may be expeditiously accomplished by turning the container bottom-side-up as clearly disclosed in Fig. 3, thereby adapting it for hand or machine filling. By reason of the substantial area of top panel 34 there is little likelihood of the container accidentally toppling over when in the inverted position of Fig. 3.

If desired, thru perforations may be provided in panel 32 in lieu of the weakened lines which circumscribe and define a series of punch out areas in the dispensing panel. When it is desired to dispense the contents of the device, the center portions of areas 10 may be punched out, or if desired panel 32 may be provided with a plurality of thru apertures in the initial forming of the blank. When such is the case, a suitable piece of material will be normally disposed over the outer face of the dispensing panel for the purpose of preventing accidental or unintentional discharge of the contents of the container. Such a member may be removed by the ultimate user of the device.

With reference now to Fig. 2, it will be noted that abutment members 44 will effectively preclude the apertures in panel 32 from being choked or clogged as it would be the case if such abutment members were omitted. The abutment members effectively prevent the panel from being contacted by the top edge or rim of cooking utensils, and the like, the edges of which utensils are quite often covered with sticky substances, which would gum up, choke or clog the apertures.

From the foregoing, it will be observed that I have provided a one-piece, inexpensive dispensing container having an inclined dispensing panel which is provided with means for precluding .contact of said panel with other surfaces.

It should be further noted that in the preferred embodiment of the invention, those faces of Wings 64 which are remote from dispensing panel 32 are in full and direct contact, throughout substantially their entire area, with corresponding portions of their respective side panels, thereby eliminating the necessity of providing adhesives between these faces. This feature is of considerable importance in that it not only reduces the set-up time and lessens the set-up cost, but it also eliminates the possibility of contamination of the contents of the container with or by reason of the adhesive. It has been found that the adjacent faces of the abutment members will be maintained in contacting relationship, without the use of adhesive, whereby to permit granular, powdered and pulverized materials to be packaged and dispensed without seepage or leakage of the packaged material thru or between said faces.

It should be understood that various modifications and changes in the structural details of the device may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A one-piece blank fabricated from a sheet of material scored to provide, in side-by-side relationship, side, front, side and rear panels, wherein the overall height of said front panel is less than the overall height of said rear panel, a dispensing panel and a top panel extending, in that order, upwardly from the upper edge of said front panel, wherein the length dimension of said top panel is less than the width dimension of either of said side panels, and a triangular shaped wing provided in each of said side panels wherein the one leg of each wing is defined by and comprises a side edge of said dispensing panel with the second leg of said wing extending from the upper edge of said front panel to the apex of said wing, which apex is located in the upper edge of one of said side panels, the third leg of said wing extending from said apex to the front edge of said top panel, and wherein the first and second legs of each wing are defined by score lines, and wherein the third leg comprises part of the upper edge of the respective side panel of which each wing is an integral part.

2. A container fabricated from a single sheet of material scored to provide, in side-by-side relationship, side, front, side and rear panels, wherein the overall height of said front panel is less than the overall height of said rear panel, a dispensing panel and a top panel extending, in that order, upwardly from the upper edge of said frontpanel, wherein the length dimension of said top panel is less than the width dimension of either of said side panels, and a triangular shaped wing provided in each of said side panels wherein one leg of each wing is defined by and comprises a side edge of said dispensing panel with a second leg of said wing extending from the upper edge of said front panel to the apex of said Wing, which apex is located in the upper edge of one of said side panels, the third leg of said wing extending from said apex to the front edge of said toppanel, and wherein the first and second legs of each wing are defined by score lines, and wherein the third leg comprises part of the upper edge of the respective side panel of which each wing is an integral part, said dispensing panel adapted to be inclined relative to said top and front panels with said wings extending outwardly beyond and above the plane of said panel, said wings being located in the plane of their respective side walls for providing a pair of laterally spaced abutment members along opposite sides of said dispensing panel.

3. A container fabricated from a single sheet of material scored to provide, in side-by-side relationship, side, front, side and rear panels, wherein the overall height of said front panel is less than the overall height of said rearpanel, a dispensing panel and a top panel extending, in that order, upwardly from the upper edge of said front panel, wherein the length dimension of said top panel is less than the Width dimension of either of said side panels, and a triangular shaped wing provided in each of said side panels wherein one leg of each wing is defined by and comprises a side edge of said dispensing panel with a second leg of said wing extending from the upper edge of said front panel to the apex of said wing, which apex is located in the upper edge of one of said side panels, the third leg of said wing extending from said apex to the front edge of said top panel, and wherein the first and second legs of each wing are defined by score lines, and wherein the third leg comprises part of the upper edge of the respective side panel of which each wing is an integral part, said dispensing panel inclined relative to and spanning the adjacent edges of said front and top panels with said wings extending outwardly beyond and at substantially right angles relative to the plane of said panel, and wherein that face of each wing remote from said panel is in full and direct contact throughout substantial- 1y its entire area with the inner face of its respective side panel for providing a pair of laterally spaced abutment members along opposite sides of said dispensing panel.

4. A container comprising front, rear, top, bottom and side panels wherein said front and top panels are shorter than their corresponding rear and bottom panels, a dispensing panel inclined relative to and spanning adjacent portions of said top and front panels wherein the slant height dimension of said panel is equal to the square root of the sum of tha squares of the dimensions by which said front and top panels are shorter than their corresponding rear and bottom panels, and a pair of abutment members formed integrally with said side panels and projecting upwardly above and at opposite sides of said dispensing panel, said members being located one in the plane of each of said side panels.

HARRY A. TOMARIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

